Xytan 'Jar Wattinree
Biography Upbringing Even before the destruction of the archives on , Xytan's upbringing was a difficult enigma to solve. Contrary to the plaque displayed before his statue in the Hall of Legends on , Covenant records cannot confirm that a 'Xytan of 'Wattinr Lineage' existed within the birthdate given by his Oracle Code. Hundreds of clans across dozens of colonies have claimed otherwise, with many of them being poorer states that desperately rely on tourism and warriors for their survival. Their stories on his childhood range from believable to outright absurd - for example, it is unlikely that Xytan originated as an adopted offspring of a , who slayed his mother out of a desire reintegrated into Sangheili society. Some Ascetics have moved even further, cross-referencing children who disappeared before 'Xytan' first enrolled into the Covenant military, although such efforts are currently fruitless. There are three stories that hold the most credibility among historians, although all have their contradictions that make it difficult to separate truth from fiction. The Liberator of Chekarv= The first theory of Xytan's origins are drawn from the relatively-young Sangheili colony known as , from the Chekarv State. They conceded that the young Xytan wasn't raised there, as he ran from his family in the west at a young age. Brandishing a collection of animal skulls, they knew the boy had talent and took him in, and allowed him to be trained by their most veteran warrior - a tyrannical who ruled the region with an iron fist. He quickly became a star pupil, as he routinely defeated his jealous peers into submission through his unconventional fighting style; in human terms, he was described as fighting more like a snake than a Sangheili. Eventually, his ambition and skills began to rival that of his master, and slowly the Kaidon began to fear that one day the child would overthrow him. To maintain his position, he allowed Xytan to become the youngest warrior to undergo the Trials of 'Nevamd, a rite of passage in which the adults-to-be must recover a eel within the Citadel of Nebrask. It was a dangerous task, as many lost their lives to a wild collective that occupied the ruins. As the story goes, the Kaidon ordered the exits to be blocked and collapsed, leaving Xytan trapped with the beast. Xytan was be saved more than a week later, when a grieving father journeyed up into the ruins and sifted through the rubble in search of his son. Shockingly, Xytan was not only found to be alive but had killed the gestalt completely by crushing it within a collapsed tunnel. Secretly nursed back to health, the boy swore revenge. He journeyed across Rahnelo, where he gathered allies, furthered his skill as a warrior, and equipped himself with master-worked armour and weapons. Most of those he approached to help them were under the impression it was a suicide mission, and refused to help. When he eventually returned to Chekarv Keep, it was with a party of less than fifty men. Regardless, they infiltrated and attacked the Tyrant's stronghold's inner courtyard. Xytan left his followers on the outside, and directly challenged his former mentor in his tower. After a long, bitter duel that tested every skill they learned at that point, Xytan emerged victorious after he kicked the Kaidon to his death. With his vow fulfilled, Xytan left the planet, and left Chekarv with a much more libertarian government. The story is believable because many government records of Rahnelo can directly corroborate the details - the Kaidon was indeed assassinated by one of his child soldiers, while the Ruins of Nebrask were indeed damaged by explosives during the last decades of the Covenant. However, the identity of the assassin was never mentioned, nor does the modesty of the story match Xytan's egotistical personality. |-| The Hunter from Saarm= Joining the Covenant However way Xytan was truly brought up, the first verifiable records were those of his enlistment into the Covenant military on May 24th, 2459, on the world of . He was immediately mocked by most of the Sangheili around him, who made fun at his lack of a clan nameThe lack of a surname in Sangheili society denoted one was either still a boy or an outcast, both of which were grounds for insults. and his inability to discuss where he came from. While this would have been grounds for bullying, the young Xytan did not receive much physical abuse. Instead, he took any obvious insult against him as a willingness to fight, immediately lashing out against them in order to show he would never be knocked around. He quickly became known as the very best student in his class, attracting the ire of the noble-born who trained their entire lives to fight and never seemed to make an attempt at making allies. On several occasions, he was ambushed in dishonourable theatres as they grouped up to teach him a lesson. It was said he won these too, using shivs made out of glass and metal, and dirty coward-attacks to beat them off. In the end, he would be left alone for the sake of the attacker's safety, having earned the title 'Zadn'a'vil'English translation: unpunished or unworthy lump of wood. or even 'the Jiralhanae.' Soon after he enlisted, Xytan would be noticed by the senior instructors at his academy, who tried to coerce him by adopting him into their clan. Xytan would reject all of these requests, finding that he wants to have as little to do with his own species as possible. This would attract the attention of the Ascetic Adul 'Prowattinree, a warrior-scribe who just so happened to be searching for new recruits for the . Noticing Xytan's early progress and his remarkable ability to defeat even his older instructors, Adul would watch him with great interest. In 2461, he would finally make his move by proposing a duel with Xytan: if Adul wins, Xytan must serve under his command for as long as he sees fit and adopt Adul's clan as his own. If Xytan wins, Adul will make him a private operative of the Hierarchs themselves.Adul could not complete this condition, as he knew that the Hierarchs were unwilling to accept someone so young. Accepting the challenge, the two would engage in a brief but vicious fight which was watched by the entire academy. Originally, it was Xytan who was winning, who put the older warrior on the back-foot as he broke through his pitiful defence. However, after this initial clash, Adul seemed to wake up, parrying each of Xytan's blows effortlessly and sweeping the Sangheili to the floor. As he brought down his final blow, Xytan rolled out of the way, threw down his , and keeled, saying he accepted Adul's offer. After a moment's hesitation, Adul accepted Xytan's submission, and gave back the borrowed blade to help his new student up.To this day, Xytan maintains that he did not submit, as he did not say that he yielded. Hunt For the Doomed Penance to Xytan.}} As Xytan's reputation for success grew and his rank rose, he would receive an increasing number of requests from ministers demanding his assistance. Most of the, he declined their missions; often-times he knew that the objectives they sort were so minuscule that they were a waste of his talents, or that they were thinly-disguised excuses to incriminate him. His ability to critically analyse their proposals and not rely on the 'honour' of accepting meant that he was difficult to fool until the Minister of Abnegation approached him. Although his mission was seemingly simple - find the legendary space station ''Doomed Penance'' - the difference that changed Xytan's mind was that Abnegation had assembled no small number of assets. An entire legion, a fleet of sixteen ships and even the approval from the High Council to grant Xytan the temporary title of . Knowing that the station may very well exist to demand the deployment of so many units, Xytan accepted the Minister's proposal. Human-Covenant War Inquiry on the Demonic Heresy Even before the loss of the vital shipyards at , 'Wattinree was already harbouring some concern for the battlefield threat that the Covenant called " , but the incident immediately verified them. Despite already using his already-powerful intelligence network to identify and track them, they had never appeared in such numbers to warrant consideration in his tactics, nor did they ever attack such a core part of his fleet's logistics. As a result, he was forced to begin seriously working out contingency plans in case a Demon was present while his forces regrouped, though their lack of information would continuously thwart his attempts. Because of this, he sent an official submission to the Hierarchs requesting the creation of a dedicated force aimed at studying, eliminating and even capturing these threats. It would unfortunately be dismissed; believed that their threat was blown out of proportion, while was astonished at the sheer manpower he requested. Only was silent on the matter. 'Wattinree was in the middle of reorganising his forces to independently to achieve such objectives when Regret arranged a meeting with him. Regret announced that he would secretly approve his request; while Regret claimed that it was based on his agreement on the Demon threat, 'Wattinree privately believed that the wished to get back at Truth for his humiliation following the . Physical Attributes Appearance Personality , one of the late admiral's final rivals.}} In his youth, Xytan acted like the opposite of the role-model he became in later life. He did not openly believe in the or even the , thinking it was all entirely pointless due to his materialistic, clanless upbringing. In a similar vein, he did not have a code of honour at all as he believed it served to make the individual vulnerable to weaker opponents when they should be finished off quickly. He had an ego that made it difficult for him to accept losing, especially since he never seemed to lose. This gave him a vengeful edge that saw him ruthlessly deliver payback. Beyond this isn't much - Xytan enjoyed challenging fights and taunts, and his personality was cripplingly shallow and negative. He would lie and cheat if it meant he would win, and wasn't above yelling harsh 'truths' no matter how the others thought about it. In fact, many times he did it to see how pissed-off his potential enemies would become. In addition, he made an effort to alienate everyone around him, and made no friends before he was beaten by Adul 'Prowattinree. He almost seemed to have dedicated himself to fighting. As an adult, Xytan became much more visibly religious, although this was not so much out of actual conversion so much as it was inspiring zeal in his followers. He became much more friendly and modest about his accomplishments, however he still maintained an ego; occasionally, he would ask a soldier about what rumours the troops said about him during meetings with influential dignitaries. Skills Relations Thel 'Vadamee Quite possibly the greatest threat presented to Xytan's power and influence, Thel 'Vadamee was a noble-born Sangheili who represented a considerable thorn in his side. Maintaining a stance as a very well-disciplined and focused warrior, Thel was best known for his unpredictable tactics that could on both the battlefield and the larger strategic map. This has made him extremely effective on the battlefield, breaking through even heavily-fortified worlds that gave Xytan trouble. Toru 'Makhan Before Toru's exile, Xytan only ever considered him an interesting curiosity. He mused that Toru was similar to himself in his youth; despite his poor family standing, he used his talents and opportunities given to him to ascend through the ranks of the Covenant military and possessed a keen strategic mind. However, what set him apart was his ambition, which he correctly predicted may eventually allow him to become a threat to the Hierarches if he continues his current path. However, because of their massive difference in rank and experience, Xytan never considered him an equal and paid little attention to his progress. It was not until Toru was promoted and exiled in that he began to seriously investigate him. While his ambition worried Xytan, as he learned that he would betray close friends if it guaranteed advancement, he saw him as a potential successor he could mold to his will. He admired his ability to turn what was a lax pirate haven on his doorstep into a well-patrolled and protected empire. He even restructured his forces to promote talent over political connections. This was all the more shocking when Xytan finally met with him on Iradu; he appeared content with his position, attempted to buy Xytan's favour with gifts and carefully-chosen words and lacked anything in the way of a backbone to challenge his critiques. Xytan immediately lost all faith in the idea that the Sangheili he met who would carry on his revolutionist work, yet his power and past meant that the Imperial Admiral took the precaution of installing spies within Toru's Covenant to inform him of his every action; a difficult operation given Toru's paranoia. However, Xytan wrongly believed that the Fleet Master would side with him should a rebellion take place. This underestimation of his mindset saw nothing being done to prepare himself in the case that Toru would rebel, though the placement of a spy close to his inner circle negated such a concern. List of Appearances *'' '' *''ONI-SIGINT Report 988-113451-8'' *''RP:Light of the Abyss'' Notes Category:Males Category:ZOD Characters